Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Apple Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Lately I've come across several recipes for pull-apart breads. I've had several recipes bookmarked and have been meaning to make a loaf but always seem to put it off. There was a picture for this cinnamon apple pull-apart bread in the King Arthur Flour catalog that came in the mail yesterday. It was the first one I've seen that had apples in it and I had to have it. Now! I'm not sure what I really need to say about this pull apart bread. Just look at it! It speaks for itself...and it's saying "you know you want me!" There are several steps involved in making the bread but it's completely worth the extra effort. Seriously what's not to like about apples, cinnamon, and pecans, baked up into sweet dough? All that's missing is a cup of coffee.

For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
mix both ingredients together in a small bowl. Add more milk if necessary to get desired consistency. I like it to be the consistency of a thick syrup.

To make the dough:
Whisk together the butter, milk, water, eggs, and vanilla extract.
In the bowl mixer, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast, then add the wet ingredients. Using the dough hook attachment mix and knead, until the dough is smooth. The dough will be quite soft. If it seems too dry add a little water, if it seems too sticky add just a little flour, up to a 1/4 cup.
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan.
Gently deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly greased surface.* Roll the dough into a 12" x 20" rectangle.
Stir the vanilla into the melted butter. Spread the butter mixture over the entire top on the dough, Use a pastry brush to get the butter even spread over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top, using your hand to spread it evenly over the butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon evenly over the dough. Add the apples, on top of the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on the nuts, if using.
Cut the dough crosswise into six 3 1/2" x 12" strips. Stack the strips on top of one another. Cut the stack into six pieces, about 2" x 3 1/2" each. This part is a little messy but it doesn't have to be perfect.
Turn the pieces on edge, and place them in the loaf pan one in front of the other from one end of the pan to the other, squeezing them in tight. I sprinkled any nuts or apples that had fallen off over the top of the dough after I put it into the pan.
Cover the pan and allow the loaf to rise for 30 to 60 minutes, until it's almost doubled in size. While the loaf is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake the loaf for 45 to 55 minutes in the center of the oven, tenting it with foil after 30 minutes. Remove the loaf from the oven, and transfer it to a rack to cool for 15 to 20 minutes before turning it out of the pan to cool completely.
While still slightly warm, spoon the glaze over the top of the bread.

Roll the dough into a 20"x 12" rectangle

Add the filling

Slice crosswise into six even pieces

Stack the pieces on top of one another.

Slice the stack into six pieces.

Turn the pieces on their side and put them into the bread pan.

*Notes: I lightly sprayed a non-stick mat with cooking spray.
I kind of diced up my apples but after making the bread, I think sliced apples would be easier to keep on the pieces of dough as you stack them. (Which is what the recipe stated but I like to do things my aka the hard way!)
The long pieces are hard to move on top of one another. I kind of rolled the ends of each slice inward toward the center to make them easier to pick up to move. I had to spread the nuts and apples back into place but it made it easier for me to get the pieces stacked. Don't freak out if your apples and nuts fall off (they will!) just put them back on the dough after you've moved it onto the stack. (Hopefully these instructions will make sense when your actually making the bread!) I cooked mine the full 55 minutes. I probably could have taken it out at about 50 minutes.

There's no need for a knife with this bread. It really does just pull apart!

32 comments:

OH MY GOODNESS....!!!!! I'm on my way to the market now to pick up some instant yeast. I've got everything else in the cupboard to make this it sounds so delicious I can't wait. THANK YOU SO MUCH for posting such a detailed recipe.

I haven't tried it with this recipe but you could probably make the dough and put it straight into the fridge without letting it rise. Take it out in the morning and let it rise some and warm up while you are chopping the apples etc. and continue with the recipe from there. I've done this with pizza dough and it worked great.

I am getting ready to pop this into the oven. I have to say this was crazy messy!! But if the end result is as delicious as your pictures look then its worth it. I ended up putting mine in a cake pan, I had too much for a loaf pan.

Tried this today and it turned out great! There was a lot of liquid that formed in the bottom of the loaf pan during the 2nd rise that I didn't expect. I think it might have been a combo of the butter and the apples because it was a bit like water. I thought about pouring it off but then decided to leave it and see what would happen. What happened was a fabulous gooey, delicious caramel that gave the bread a richer flavor and a nice sticky base when I turned it out of the pan. Will definitely make this again.

I just made this this morning. Since we have nuts/non-nuts in the house, I split in 2. My husband and I are hard-pressed to decide which is best. I have been looking for a recipe like this for a long time. THANK YOU! It was very easy to follow and your photos were perfect (as was your recipe!) Nancy

Thank you for this great recipe and wonderful tutorial. It was very easy to follow your instructions especially when it was possible to glance at your pictures too!I made it just this afternoon and mmmmmm it tastes and smells sooo yummy.

I am about to put mine in the oven, it is perfect weather in MN for baking! I have to say the instructions were very easy to follow along. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Anxiously awaiting the yummy smells and tastes!